I must start out by saying that this was one of my favorite episodes of the season! There was a little bit of everything: action, drama, romance, comedy, and some thriller aspects as well. And it was all enough to keep me in suspense and even then, there were a couple of unexpected turns and surprises that I happily welcomed. The reason why I say that this is one of the best episodes is because they gave us everything that IS Beauty and the Beast. Just like how episode 3 of season 3 (Bob and Carol and Vincent and Cat) did, this week’s episode managed to make me feel the same way. Additionally, I felt like everything was kicked up notch. The stakes were raised, I was worried for our characters, and I was scared of Liam!! You can really feel the intensity build up for what I hope to be a killer season finale. And the preview for next week’s episode looks intense too! I’m excited about this and because my head is swimming with thoughts, I am going to illustrate the points that I will go over here:
REASONS WHY THIS WEEK WORKED:
- Catherine’s shift in her approach to dealing with these situations and the way she handled Vincent: We’ve been seeing her be controlling and obsessive and close-minded to Vincent’s opinions. This week, Catherine was a bit more open and relaxed and she let Vincent take control over matters that she knew she could trust him in. In fact, Vincent was the one who took things into his own hands and did things “his way.” Her character was much softer and warm, reminding me of the Catherine we knew from Season 1
- Liam is a really scary bad guy (Jason Gedrick does a magnificent job being creepy)
- The constant plot-twists aka the “holy shit!” moments such as finding out that Liam is a superhuman beast, finding out that Patient X was Julianna’s brother, also that Julianna was actually not a bad person, finding out that although cured, the superhuman experiments still suffer symptoms i.e. the nosebleeds, finding out that JT is dying!
- The action sequences are amazing which only emphasizes the intensity of these battles between Vincent and Liam
- The character moments between Vincent and Catherine – especially in the end
- Vincent and Catherine were no longer arguing about the same stuff! They were much more in sync with their goals although the way they went about it was different.
- We got to see Vincent’s abs!
- The conversation in the end reminded me of the old Vincent and Catherine – so simple yet touching and romantic. It also helps that although they were talking about a topic they’ve discussed before – it wasn’t the same conversation, it didn’t get old. It was a nice bow to wrap up the end of this week’s episode.
- Comedy between JT & T
THINGS I WAS IFFY ABOUT:
- The return of JT & T
- Rehashing of some of the same themes: the struggle between Vincent wanting to do things his way while Catherine wanted to do things by the book.
- Vincent was like basically on his period – he was moody, snappy, and frustrated.
- I was wary of reintroducing the concept of how other beasts affect Vincent and his humanity – but what saved it was the way it was introduced and the circumstances the characters find themselves (this is the reason why it doesn’t belong on this list)
- JT being uptight and worried about the side effects – reminded me of the same things JT and Tess would argue about in the beginning of this season
- Vincent kept telling Catherine to “trust him” when didn’t they have their trust issues all figured out??
For some reason, when it was revealed to us and the characters that Liam was a beast – I thought that we already knew that. I think I just assumed in my head that everything that Vincent and Catherine deal with has to do with beasts. But when Vincent explained why he was behaving rather strange – it made sense. Vincent hadn’t really dealt with beasts this season at all. Gabe was the last beast that both Vincent and Catherine had to deal with. That’s why Liam affected Vincent when he was trying to track him. After being beast-free for so long, reencountering another beast caused all these familiar feelings and urges to stir within Vincent – essentially waking up his primal/animal instinct to kill; to hunt. That’s why Vincent told Catherine that he felt like a predator because he was so focused on finding his prey. I imagine the effect to be a bit stronger only because Liam is a superhuman beast – the most powerful beast we have yet to encounter. Vincent’s animal side was blinding him from seeing everything except his target. At one point, even snapping at Catherine to let him go. And this reminds Vincent of his life before Catherine – when he was on these missions. All of his senses were used to hunt and kill other beasts – the same thing he was doing this episode. When Catherine finds out that Liam is a beast, she understands why Vincent had been acting weird lately. But the way that Catherine handles the situation is what I love. She comforts him, consoles him – reminding him that he is not the same person he was before. It’s a sweet moment but at the end, we leave a troubled Vincent who is worried for his own sake.
Like I mentioned above, I loved Catherine this week because while she was determined to find Liam, she wasn’t controlling and obsessive as she had been in previous episodes. She softens up and lets Vincent take the reigns on this one. More importantly, she listens to Vincent. Especially in the end, Catherine’s eyes were full of love and concern for Vincent. She dropped everything, gently sat down on the couch with him, and pushed Vincent to let out what and why he was feeling. The reason why it reminded me so much of the relationship they had in season 1 was because Catherine was using her love to comfort Vincent’s doubts about himself – facing the dark side of himself, being reminded of the monster he was. She reassured him of his humanity and reminded him that he wasn’t a monster – he was a hero. At times when Vincent is afraid of himself, Catherine is always there to remind him that he is not alone. I also like Catherine’s response to Vincent’s comment about her father killing all of the beasts to which she said,” Not all of the beasts, thank god.” Although a very stressful situation, Catherine remained pretty calm throughout the whole thing. Vincent was the one freaking out and now we understand why. All along Vincent had been telling Catherine to trust him, when in the end, it was Vincent who had to trust himself.
Liam is pretty badass. He seems very menacing and all the hospice bombings were tragic. I was afraid of Liam and for a moment, I wondered how Tess was going to protect JT. We still don’t know what Liam wants but we know that things just got real.
Julianna’s brother, Russell, confused me. Apparently, Liam had tricked Julianna into turning him into a superhuman (assuming he already was a beast) and so Julianna wanted to fix her mistake. She did everything possible to bring him down – creating super humans to go after him. Hence, when Julianna found out that Vincent was a beast – she believed that Vincent would be the one to bring Liam down. Julianna was so desperate that Russell injected himself with the serum to get rid of Liam once and for all. Julianna protected Russell by labeling him as “patient X” – a hidden experiment. All this time, Russell managed to escape Liam by constantly moving around. However, I don’t understand his tactics with Catherine. Was he trying to get himself killed to lure Liam?
We also learn that all of the superhuman experiments, whether cured or not, would eventually die. They would know because they would start getting certain symptoms such as the nosebleeds. JT has been worried about his own health, only for the reason that Liam was hunting him down for something. Until then, we thought JT was ok but in the end, when his nose bleeds – we fear for JT. And again, no one listens to JT’s concerns and I would hate for JT to keep this to himself. Hopefully, with the stronger relationship that JT and Tess have built, things will be different this time around. Through most of the episode, we were back to the worried and panicky JT from the beginning of season 3 and it annoyed me a bit. Hell, it annoyed Tess. And the comedic banter between them in the hotel was perfect. But all of JT’s worries came full circle as he is the last target that Liam is hunting for. Not only that – he is dying.
I know many people rejoiced when JT and Tess finally got back together but I must admit it felt awkward for me. I like their chemistry but I don’t like seeing them kissing. Watching JT being loving and passionate with Tess was off putting. Maybe it was because of their physical differences or the fact that neither of their characters are typically passionate. But yeah, it didn’t do anything for me.
Overall, it was a very entertaining episode to watch. I don’t have much to say because it was all pretty good to me! And next week’s preview for “Unbreakable” looks intense as well, really testing Vincent against Liam. Also, Catherine looks really pretty – it’s been too long that Vincent and Catherine haven’t gone to a fancy event. But more importantly, their love will be tested.